Abstract
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death with a 5-year survival rate less than 10%. In the absence of effective screening methods, such as blood markers, most clinical diagnoses of PC are made at an advanced stage. However, early stage PC is associated with a more favorable five-year survival rate of 85.8% for stage 0, and 68.7% for stage IA. Transabdominal ultrasound (US) is frequently used as a first-line diagnostic tool in the clinical setting and a preferred modality for routine medical evaluations for asymptomatic individuals. Recently published Japanese data show that most PCs diagnosed in early stage had US findings, such as dilated main pancreatic ducts or pancreas cysts. For surveillance of high-risk individuals, such as those with an intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN), US is an ideal modality in terms of its non-invasive and cost-effective nature. However, the diagnostic performance of ultrasound varies greatly by the operator’s experience and the patient’s condition. This article reviews the present situation of early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer by US, along with tips for improving visualization of the pancreas.
Highlights
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, includingJapan [1]
There are multiple challenges to be solved, such as operator dependency or inadequate reproducibility, elastography may contribute to early detection of pancreatic cancer in the future
The volume data of computerized tomography (CT) or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are pre-stored into the US machine and the real-time ultrasound image is displayed simultaneously while the virtual view is reconstructed as a multiplanar reconstruction (MPR) image from the stored volume data
Summary
Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide, including. PC has an average annual incidence rate of 30.2 per 100,000 in men and 26.9 per 100,000 in women, which almost equals its mortality rate in 2014 in Japan [2]. The majority of pancreatic cancer presents in late stages at the time of diagnosis, which explains the poor associated prognosis. Resectable disease has suboptimal survival rates, it is clearly more favorable with a five-year survival rate of 85.8% for stage 0 (Union for International Cancer Control, or IUCC, staging), 68.7% for stage IA and 59.7% for stage IB, according to the Japan Pancreatic Cancer Registry [3]. US is a preferred modality for annual health or screening exams for asymptomatic individuals because it can be performed by a technician in Japan.
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